Wonderful family photos both during the event and at the photo-shoot. The children are growing up fast! They seem to be handling all the press and people around such an event very well. Though they have wuite many years of practice by now.

Crown Prince Haakon accompanied Helge Floland. Before the race the Crown Prince said he really had no chance of keeping up with Helge, so he hoped Helge would treat him kindly. Helge described the pace of the race to be one of leisure, and twenty minutes longer than his normal time, while the Crown Prince described it as tiring. They had decided beforehand that they were not aiming at any records.

Princess Martha accompanied Kjetil Nilsen and she told the press that they talked until they were around half way to the finish line, then it got silent on her part because she had to keep her focus to be able to keep up with Kjetil. In the speech she held before the race she said she hope her and the Crown Prince couple would not slow the contestans down.

Crown Princess Mette Marit accompanied Cathrine Nøttingnes and said it was a wonderful race and that Cathrine kept the pace slow enough for her. They talked and had a good time while skiing.

They’re laughing because the Crown Prince had trouble keeping a good pace, saying they skied in his pace and that the reporter is spot on when she says he looks tired. He says Helge (the man he accompanied) was patient with him and that he had no change to keep Helge's level, as Hlege is a better skier than him. Helge was asked if he was really the one leading the Crown Prince, but he said no and that he had just been out on a tur, an easy enjoyable skiing round and not a proper race.

At the moment, Queen Sonja and CP Mette-Marit attend a performance celebrating the Norwegian author and feminist Camilla Collett in the Palace Chapel, followed by the laying of flowers at the statue of Collett in the Palace Park, June 12, 2013.
first picture - more will follow soon

__________________Let your heart guide you. It whispers, so listen closely. - The Land Before Time